James Sebastian Saia (born June 15, 1964) is an American men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

. Saia is currently the men's head basketball coach at

California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degree programs, 122 m ...

High school career

Born in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, Saia prepped at Sir Francis Drake High in

San Anselmo, California San Anselmo () is an incorporated town in Marin County, California, United States. San Anselmo is located west of San Rafael, at an elevation of . It is located about north of San Francisco. The town is bordered by San Rafael to the east, F ...

and graduated in 1982. He was a member of the basketball team that won the 1982 California state championship with a 34–0 record. There, he was teammates with future

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

coach

Steve Lavin Stephen Michael Lavin (born September 4, 1964) is an American college basketball coach and former broadcaster who is the head coach of the San Diego Toreros men's basketball team at the University of San Diego (USD). He previously served as head ...

College career

Saia started his

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

playing career at Cal Poly in the 1983–84 season, after redshirting a year. That season, he averaged 1.2 points and 0.4 rebounds in 19 games. He then transferred to

College of Marin The College of Marin, (known as Marin Junior College, 1926–1947) is a Public college, public community college in Marin County, California, with two campuses, one in Kentfield, California, Kentfield, and the second in Novato, California, Novat ...

for the 1984–85 season and finished at

Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California, United States. Encompassing eleven colleges, the university is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". The school maintains its foundi ...

for his final two years, where he would join his childhood friend

. Saia graduated from Chapman in 1987.

Coaching career

Saia began his coaching career as an assistant under Lou Campanelli at

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in the 1988–89 season then was an assistant at Indiana State in the 1989–90 season and

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

from 1990 to 1994. From 1994 to 1996, Saia was head coach at Columbia College, a junior college in

Sonora, California Sonora is the only incorporated city in Tuolumne County, California, United States, of which it is also the county seat. Founded during the California Gold Rush by Mexican miners from Sonora (after which the city is named), the city population ...

. He led Columbia to a 61–10 cumulative record, two Central Valley Conference titles, and an appearance in the Final Eight round of the 1996 CCCAA tournament. Saia then returned to the Division I level as an assistant at

under

, a position for which Saia stayed from 1996 until 2003, after Lavin was fired. At UCLA, Saia coached future NBA players like

Baron Davis Baron Walter Louis Davis (born April 13, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player who is a studio analyst for the ''NBA on TNT''. He was a two-time NBA All-Star, made the All-NBA Third Team in 2004, and twice led the NBA in st ...

Earl Watson Earl Joseph Watson Jr. (born June 12, 1979) is an American professional basketball coach and former player, who serves as an assistant coach for the San Diego Toreros. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, where he was a four-year ...

Jason Kapono Jason Alan Kapono (born February 4, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He was the first National Basketball Association (NBA) player to lead the league in three-point field goal percentage in two consecutive seasons, and ...

, and

Matt Barnes Matt Kelly Barnes (born March 9, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted in the second round of the 2002 NBA draft by the Memphis Grizzlies an ...

. Originally an assistant in the 2004–05 season, Saia took over as interim head coach at

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

after the firing of Henry Bibby in December. USC went 10–15 for the rest of the season under Saia. Saia returned to the junior college ranks as an assistant coach at

Citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

in the 2006-07 season. From 2007 to 2010, Saia was head coach at Fresno Pacific, an NAIA school at the time. At Fresno Pacific, Saia had a 70–29 overall record with two NAIA Tournament appearances. Saia was an assistant coach for the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Crypto.co ...

during the 2010 season. On May 25, 2010, Cal State San Marcos hired Saia as its inaugural men's basketball head coach. The program's first season was in 2011–12, in which Cal State San Marcos competed in the NAIA level and advanced to the

Association of Independent Institutions NAIA independent schools are four-year institutional members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) that do not have formal conference affiliations. NAIA schools that are not members of any other athletic conference are ...

(AII) title game. In the 2012-13 season, Saia led Cal State San Marcos to its first appearance in the NAIA Tournament. Cal State San Marcos later had two straight seasons with 30 or more wins in 2013–14 and 2014–15, and Saia won AII Coach of the Year honors both seasons. Saia coached at Cal State San Marcos through the 2015–16 season, its first in the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

level and

California Collegiate Athletic Association The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level. All of its current m ...

and in which the team finished 15–12.

Cal State Los Angeles Cal or CAL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty * "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov * ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...

hired Saia as head coach on June 6, 2016.

Head coaching record

Junior college

College

Personal

Saia and his wife, Stacey, have three daughters and a son. Saia is close friends with

, having played on the same team with him at Sir Francis Drake High School and

, and served as an assistant coach when Lavin was

's head coach.

References

External links